From all of us at Haven we would like to offer our thanks to our family, friends and dearest patrons. Without you we wouldn’t have made it to our 2nd birthday. As we celebrate, we wish to reflect by taking you on the journey of our experience so far.
On November 5th, 2019, Haven opened its doors for the first time. Our founders Evan Ross and Hugo Molina opened the salon with the intention of cultivating a safe Haven. A safe space with no judgement, for people from all walks of life. With that vision in mind we warmly opened our doors with great excitement and hope for what was to come.
As new salon owners, we feared but anticipated that months or years would pass before we would be able to enjoy a regular income again, which would be normal for the owners of a new small business. However, due to overwhelming support and an enormously loyal following from years of servicing the local community’s hair needs, we were able to surpass all of our initial expectations.
Things were really looking up and after over a year of planning and taking on enormous risk, something unexpected happened. Just three months after opening, news was spreading of a virus causing disruption around the world. On March 17th the Government of Canada mandated that Haven, along with all other ‘non-essential’ businesses, were to be closed for public safety. The first pandemic lockdown had begun.
After almost 4 months of closure, on June 26th 2020 Haven’s doors re-opened, but with strict restrictions due to COVID-19. In spite of that, business was booming once again as those who were brave or were in dire need chose to get our hair groomed. Many people admitted that they were desperate to feel a sense of normalcy and goodness by being out and about again, and Haven was their excuse to do so. Some also admitted that this was the first and only place they had gone outside of our homes since the lockdown began. It was such an honor to have the community rallying behind us once more.
With Haven growing once again and in such high demand due to the support of our patrons, we were in need of a new team member. That summer we were honored to invite hair stylist and fashion designer Julien Lacelle to our team. He fit right in and was thriving immediately. He quickly became booked back to back on a daily basis for many weeks in a row.
With the fear of another lockdown looming, locals were urgently booking appointments. COVID-19 cases began to rise again. In the fall, while cutting our guests’ hair and watching CP24 live in the salon, we waited for the impending news. Doug Ford gave his speech during which he exercised his authority to place the province back into lockdown. Once again we were forced to shut down. Our last day open in 2020 was November 25th.
This time, circumstances were different. The lockdown lasted 7 months, during which we began to wonder if our dream of operating a salon in the city was coming to an end. Being so new, and without being fully subsidized by the government, the path ahead was bleak and hope that we could remain afloat was fading. Doing our best to persevere, we managed to generate a few dollars each month by selling ‘Color Kits’ with a curbside pick up option. This was our way of trying to support our community by providing options to keep everyone’s hair healthy.
